


Dororo, The Princess Bride

by worthmorethanrubies25



Series: Dororo, The Princess Bride [1]
Category: Dororo (Anime 2019), Dororo (Manga), Princess Bride (1987), The Princess Bride - William Goldman
Genre: Crossover, Don’t read if you don’t like the pairing, Dororo is NOT underage in this, F/M, Princess Bride AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22906753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worthmorethanrubies25/pseuds/worthmorethanrubies25
Summary: Exactly what it sounds like, except for a few twists.
Relationships: Dororo & Hyakkimaru (Dororo), Dororo/Hyakkimaru (Dororo)
Series: Dororo, The Princess Bride [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713226
Comments: 35
Kudos: 37





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> No one has done a “Princess Bride” AU for “Dororo” yet, so I’m just going to write it myself. It’s been in my head for weeks. It’ll mostly be based on the movie, but there will be some stuff from the book too.
> 
> I just want to say that in this fic, there is only a two-year age gap between Dororo and Hyakkimaru. I thought that was important to note in case any feathers got ruffled about “age gaps” and Dororo being “underage.”
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT own “Dororo” or “The Princess Bride.”

Saru coughed again before returning to his video game. He had been sick in bed for the past three days, and he was starting to get bored. He just hoped that he would be able to compete next week; he was the captain of his school’s archery team, and his teammates were counting on him to win the championship.

A knock sounded at the door, and his favorite person in the world came into his room.

“Hey, Big Sis.” She was actually his foster mother, but she was more like a sister to him than a mom.

She kissed his cheek before placing the back of her hand against his forehead.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“A little bit,” Saru answered, sounding like he had a frog in his throat.

Big Sis grinned and pulled the chair from Saru’s desk to sit next to his bed.

“I was going through some boxes in the attic last night, and I found something you might be interested in,” she said, holding up a small rectangular object.

“A...book?” Saru wasn’t really a fan of reading.

“Yes, my parents read me this book whenever I was sick, so I thought I would read it to you.”

“Does it have any sports?” he asked hopefully.

Big Sis giggled. “No, but it does have other things. Swords, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...”

She paused. “So?”

Saru considered the list she had given him, shrugged, and turned off his video game.

“I guess it doesn’t sound too bad.”

Big Sis smiled as she opened to the first page.

“The Princess Bride, Chapter One,” she began.

Saru made a face. _‘The Princess Bride?’ Maybe I should’ve read the title before agreeing to this._ But it was too late, so the only thing to do now was to try to stay awake.

“Dororo had been orphaned at a young age, but she was raised by a doctor named Jukai. Jukai specialized in prosthetics, and one of his patients was a boy who had been abandoned as a newborn because he was missing many parts of his body, including his arms, legs, eyes, and even his skin.”

_That’s creepy_ , Saru thought.

“It was this boy who had found Dororo - who was on the brink of death - and brought her to Jukai to save her. The boy’s name was Hyakkimaru, but Dororo never called him that. Instead, she called him-“

*****

” _ **Aniki**_!”

Hyakkimaru stopped chopping wood as a familiar white flame approached him. Even though his eyes were fake, he could see the souls of living things. He only knew two human souls very well, and only one of them was petite.

Dororo grinned as she hefted a large basket filled with clothes higher on her hip. “I’m going to the stream to do the laundry; wanna come?”

Hyakkimaru reached to her face and used his wooden fingers to trace words onto her cheek. He could hear just fine, but he had no voice, so his way of communicating was through writing. And when there was nothing available to write with, he just wrote on Dororo’s or Jukai’s faces.

Except in all the years Dororo had lived with Jukai and Hyakkimaru, he only ever traced one phrase onto her face. _As you wish._

Hyakkimaru took the basket from Dororo and they both walked to the stream near their house.   
  


She felt his presence as she washed the clothes. Dororo supposed most people would be uncomfortable with being around a person who never spoke, but Dororo wasn’t most people. She usually talked enough for both of them anyways, and she always felt safe with him, despite the fact he attracted ghouls like moths to a flame.

They had started attacking not long before Hyakkimaru had found her when they were children. Jukai had once said something about the monsters being attracted to Hyakkimaru’s “power.” Dororo had no idea what that meant; all she knew was that Jukai trained Hyakkimaru to fight and kill whatever attacked them first, unless they were the village bullies. Then Dororo would just throw rocks at them.

She looked up to see her best friend’s attention had shifted down the stream. There didn’t seem to be anything there.

“What is it?”

An ear-shattering roar nearly made Dororo jump from her skin. Racing to them was a hideous humanoid creature with the body of a lizard, an elongated skull, four teeth, and enormous talons. It suddenly stopped and its long tongue shot out and wrapped around Dororo’s waist, yanking her off her feet and towards its mouth.

Dororo screamed. “ _ **ANIKI**_!”

The ghoul wailed in agony as Dororo - along with a piece of its tongue still around her waist - fell to the ground. Hyakkimaru’s sharp wooden sword was already dripping with black blood.

Dororo squirmed away from the severed tongue as Hyakkimaru battled the monster. It regrew its tongue and it kept shooting it at Hyakkimaru, just barely missing him. At one point it knocked off his mask, exposing his skinless face. Dororo had watched him fight things like this before, but this one was clearly stronger than the others; Hyakkimaru was beginning to tire out. The ghoul’s tongue got a hold on one of his prosthetic arms and dragged him closer, only for him to drive his sword through its mouth and out the back of its head. After one last groan of pain, the dead creature fell to the ground.

Dororo rushed to Hyakkimaru’s side. “Are you okay, **_Aniki_**?”

He responded by throwing his arms around her, holding her tight. Dororo stiffened; this was so unlike her friend. She forced out a laugh, thankful that he couldn’t see her blushing. She pushed away slightly and gazed up at his face.

Without his wooden mask, she could better make out his facial expressions, even without skin. She tilted her head to the side; for some reason, she wasn’t repulsed by the sight of his real visage. His expression now was a mixture of panic and relief, as if asking if she was alright.

“I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about me.”

Hyakkimaru shook his head and raised a trembling wooden hand to her cheek.

 _As you wish_ _._

Dororo was confused for a moment, but felt her heart begin to pound as realization dawned on her. When he wrote to her ‘As you wish,’ what he was trying to say was ‘I love you.’

She was even more amazed to realize that she loved him back.

“ _ **Ani**_ \- Hyakkimaru...”

Dororo swallowed to steady her nerves before slowly leaning closer to Hyakkimaru, giving him a chance to back away. When he didn’t, she closed the distance and pressed her lips to his.

*****

“Woah, woah, woah!” Saru interrupted. The book had started out good, then it rapidly deteriorated into a sappy _love_ story. _Ugh, figures!_

Big Sis tilted her head to the side, giving him a confused look. “What is it?”

“Are you trying to trick me? What happened to the monsters and fighting? This isn’t some dumb kissing book, is it? When does it get good again?”

Big Sis gave him a patient smile. “If you let me read, I’ll get to that.”

She decided to humor him by skipping over the next few romance-laced paragraphs. Clearing her throat, she continued, “Despite what had just happened with the ghoul, Dororo and Hyakkimaru made their way back home happier than they had ever been **.** ”

“I don’t _believe_ this,” Saru grumbled, rolling his eyes in disgust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I gave Hyakkimaru his hearing because I have a feeling Dororo would eventually get fed up with having to write everything out to communicate with him.
> 
> Oh, and at the beginning of this fic, Dororo is fourteen and Hyakkimaru is sixteen.


	2. Chapter 2

Jukai glanced up through the window as Hyakkimaru and Dororo returned from the stream. He could tell by the way they held hands and how Dororo beamed that they had finally admitted their feelings for each other. Since the two had bonded almost immediately after Hyakkimaru had brought her home all those years ago Jukai often wondered if Dororo might one day become his daughter-in-law, in spite of Hyakkimaru’s handicaps.

Only...why was Dororo carrying Hyakkimaru’s right leg? Was he too rough on it again? And why was Hyakkimaru still walking perfectly?

Jukai gasped in shock as the two entered the house.

“What the-“

The two looked at him, and Dororo followed his gaze.

She grimaced. “Yeah, that’s what I said when his right leg grew back.”

*****

”Wait, his right leg grew back?”

Big Sis nodded. “Yes, I didn’t read that part because there was quite a bit of kissing and romantic dialogue leading up to and after that. But if you want me to go back-“

“No no no! It’s okay,” Saru interrupted, shaking his head. He did _not_ want to hear any of that.

*****

After Dororo and Hyakkimaru both explained the incident with the ghoul and Hyakkimaru’s leg, Jukai realized what must have happened to cause his adopted son’s condition. He explained to them that sometimes humans will trade something to monsters for something in return.

“Someone must have traded Hyakkimaru’s body in such a deal.”

“That’s awful!” Dororo shouted, causing the two men to flinch. She was usually boisterous, but she was a force to be reckoned with when she was angry.

“What do ghouls even want with _**Aniki’s**_ body anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” Jukai replied, “but now we know that when he kills certain ones, he regains parts of himself.”

A moment passed, then Hyakkimaru started to write something on the dirt floor.

_I will go and kill them and get my body back._

Jukai was silent, but Dororo perked up.

“That’s a great idea, _**Aniki**_. We can track down the monsters who have your body. And if they’re terrorizing villages, we can offer to kill them for a profit-“

Hyakkimaru shook his head and wrote again.

_Dororo will stay here._

Dororo recoiled as if she had been slapped. “Why? I can help, somehow.”

_Dororo will stay here. Too dangerous._

Dororo growled in irritation. “Jukai?”

Jukai sighed. “He’s right; it will be too dangerous for you to go with him. Not only because of the ghouls, but because you two are unmarried. A lovely unmarried woman, with or without a traveling companion, is too tempting a target for samurai and ruffians.”

Feeling like she had been betrayed, Dororo stormed outside. She could understand their reasoning, even if she didn’t want to admit it. She and Hyakkimaru had professed their love only hours ago; did they have to be torn apart _now_?

She heard footsteps come up behind her. “I’m not in the mood, **_Aniki_**.”

He didn’t seem to care; he stood in front of her and cupped her face in his hands. He was wearing his mask, but Dororo sensed that under it was a kicked-puppy expression.

“Don’t look at me like that!”

She pushed him away, and he knelt to write in the dirt.

_I almost lost you today. I don’t want to lose you._

Dororo sniffled and turned away.

“What if I never see you again?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

The sound of wood scratching in earth brought her attention back to Hyakkimaru.

_Of course you will._

“How can you say that? What if something happens to you?”

Hyakkimaru stood up to trace on her cheek instead of the ground.

_I will always come for you Dororo._

He nuzzled his forehead against hers. For years, he had wished that there was a way for him to really see and feel her. Now that he knew there was a way for him to do that, he would go up against hell itself to get his body back, if only to see Dororo with his own eyes, to touch her with his own hands.

Dororo smiled and pressed a kiss against the wooden lips of his mask.

“I’ll be waiting for you, Hyakkimaru.”

He was gone just days later, after Jukai had given him new prosthetic arms that hid steel katanas. He left after Dororo and Jukai bid him a tearful farewell.

After he was out of sight, Dororo reached up to rub the tears from her face and paused when she realized her hands were leaving trails of grime and soot from the fireplace. She looked down at herself; she wore boy’s clothes because she thought they were more comfortable and practical than those stupid kimonos girls her age usually wore. She only combed her hair when it resembled a bird’s nest even in a ponytail. And she couldn’t even remember the last time she took a bath.

Dororo froze as a horrible thought struck her. _Oh no; what if after_ **Aniki** _gets_ _his eyes back, he sees lots of pretty girls on his travels, and is disappointed to come home only to find out I’m just a filthy tomboy?_

She grabbed a few towels along with soap and her hair comb and hurried to the stream. Once there, she scrubbed her skin raw, making sure there wasn’t a speck of dirt left on her body. Then she washed and combed her hair and experimented with different styles until she settled on one her mother had favored. She resolved to do this every day, twice a day if necessary. Sure, it was tedious and time consuming, but Dororo didn’t mind. She wanted Hyakkimaru to be pleased when he saw her for the first time.

However, several months after he had left, she came home to see one of the villagers departing from their house. Jukai was in tears.

“Jukai? What’s wrong?”

He looked up at her. “That villager had news about Hyakkimaru.” He paused, trying to find the right words. “He was on a ship, and it was attacked by pirates.”

Dororo forced a smile in spite of her mounting dread. “Well, if he’s been captured, he can easily escape and come home, right?”

Jukai let out an unsteady breath. “It was Tanosuke the Slaughterer.”

Tanosuke the Slaughterer was a pirate who never left captives alive. At first, Dororo thought since Hyakkimaru was such a skilled warrior, he might’ve survived. But the distressed look on Jukai’s face told her otherwise.

Dororo shook her head, beginning to hyperventilate. _No_. She didn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. Hyakkimaru couldn’t...he couldn’t be...

The world tilted and went black.  
  


Jukai carried Dororo to her room after she had fainted. In the days that followed, he left meals outside her door, only for them to go untouched. No sound was coming from her room either, not even hushed sobs.

After a week, Jukai’s concern got the better of him and he slid open her door. Dororo was sitting on the ground, staring across the room with a blank expression and dark circles under her eyes, indicating that she hadn’t slept in days.

“Dororo?”

She glanced up at him, then down at her lap, but it was enough. Jukai could tell from her eyes that part of her had died right along with Hyakkimaru.

She sighed. “I will never love again.”

*****

  
“Murdered by pirates is good.”

Big Sis arched an eyebrow. “Is it?”

Saru began to nod, then paused. “Well, it’s a bummer about Hyakkimaru; he was actually pretty cool.”

“Would you like me to read more?”

Saru glanced at the book, noticing that Big Sis was barely a few pages in. He nodded out of morbid curiosity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much for thinking I could have enough time to write to my heart’s content. Sheesh! I’m finishing this chapter in the wee hours of the morning because I’m crazy busy all of a sudden. I promise to have the next chapter out as soon as possible, so please be patient with me. Thank you!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out I had time to write today after all. Yay! I hope you enjoy it!

Four years later, the square of Daigo’s capital was filled as never before. People from miles around came to hear the announcement of the woman Daigo Kagemitsu had chosen for his son’s bride-to-be. No one had ever seen her, but rumors of her beauty and wealth were endless and each was less possible than before. Others claimed that she was just a commoner and Daigo only chose her because the only unmarried noblewoman in Japan was twice his son’s age and ugly as a toad.

Daigo Kagemitsu emerged onto the balcony of his castle, along with his wife and his son, Tahomaru. The people slowly quieted.

“My people,” he greeted, “a month from now, our land will celebrate its one-hundredth anniversary. On that sundown, my son and heir, Daigo Tahomaru, will marry a lady from a distant land. Would you like to meet her?”

A cheer rose up from the crowd.

Daigo beamed with pride. “My people, I give you,” he paused for effect, “Lady Dororo!”

The front doors of the castle slid open as Dororo emerged, and the people literally gasped.

The eighteen-year-old Lady far surpassed the fourteen-year-old peasant girl. Her raven-black hair was glossy and swept up elaborately on top of her head. Her gently sun kissed skin was glowing with rosy cheeks and lips, and her pink kimono and **_kanzashi_** jewelry were made from the finest silk.

She was the most beautiful woman in a hundred years. In fact, the people were so enraptured by her beauty, no one seemed to notice that Dororo was not smiling.

Dororo’s emptiness consumed her. Although being the bride-to-be of a future Daimyo was something she never dreamed would happen to her, she did not love Tahomaru.

Afterward, around midafternoon, Dororo changed into a more comfortable outfit. Tahomaru, knowing how unhappy she was, had gifted her with the foal of his finest horse. Dororo was grateful for his generosity, and she took her horse out to ride every day, since riding was the only thing that gave her joy anymore.

It also gave her time to think. As her horse galloped over a hill, her mind drifted to what she saw in her mirror right before she was presented to Daigo’s subjects. She was told that she was the most beautiful woman in Japan, but she had been more impressed that the servants in charge of her makeup were able to hide the dark circles under her eyes. She wondered if anyone in the castle had overheard her crying out in her sleep from the nightmares she was having.

Nightmares were nothing new to Dororo. For the most part, they were just bad memories that her subconscious twisted until they were even worse. The most horrible nightmare that plagued her incessantly over the past four years was Hyakkimaru dying at the hands of that cursed pirate. It was always different; sometimes he was stabbed, sometimes he was drowned, bludgeoned, decapitated, whipped to death, throat slit...

Dororo shivered as she pulled the horse to a stop and dismounted. _It doesn’t matter how he died_ , she told herself. _I was supposed to marry_ him _, but he’s gone, and now I’m being forced to marry someone I know I can never love the way I still love Hyakkimaru._

She slumped to the ground. Outwardly, she was completely stone-faced. Inside, however, she was falling apart. So what if she had beauty and wealth and a small measure of power? She lost _everything_ that was important to her. Her parents were dead, she was forbidden to contact Jukai, and the love of her life had been murdered.

She clenched her hands hard enough for her fingernails to draw blood. As far as she knew, Tanosuke the Slaughterer was still free and had not stopped his life of piracy. At least one good thing could come from her current situation: once she married Tahomaru, she would demand that Tanosuke be brought to her in chains so she could kill him herself.

She stayed that way until the sun started to set. With a sigh to compose herself, she mounted her horse, wanting to ride a bit more before having to return to the castle.

Dusk was closing in when she came across an odd trio. The first was a young woman a few years older than her, as erect and slender as the katana attached to her side. The second was the biggest human being she had ever laid eyes on.

The third spoke up, “Dororo - or, I should say, Lady Dororo - I don’t suppose you remember me, do you?

Dororo gripped her horse’s reigns as anger made her blood boil; how could she possibly forget the man who had betrayed her father and watched as her mother burned her hands to feed her?

“I remember you, Itachi,” she spat the name like it was poison. “What do you want?”

Itachi placatingly held up his hands. “My associates and I are just lost, is all. Is there a village nearby?”

Dororo shook her head. “Nope, there’s nothing nearby for miles.”

“Then there will be no one to hear you scream,” Itachi smirked as the giant strode forward.

Dororo didn’t even have time to gasp before the giant grasped her neck and unconsciousness came.

“What are you ripping?” The woman with the sword asked Itachi.

“A uniform of an Asakura samurai.”

Itachi placed the seal on the saddle to look like there had been a scuffle with samurai from the Asakura clan, Daigo’s greatest rival. With a smack, the horse took off in the direction of the capital.

Itachi swaggered onto their boat with a satisfied grin. “Once the horse reaches the castle, Young Lord Tahomaru will suspect that the Asakura have abducted his love. Once he finds her dead on Asakura’s land, his suspicions will be totally confirmed.”

The giant stood up from where he laid Dororo on the deck. “You never said anything about killing anyone!”

Itachi rolled his eyes. “I hired you to help me start a war; what did you expect?”

The giant sighed. He absolutely loathed Daigo Kagemitsu - Daigo had killed his sister - but still, the girl had never done anything wrong.

“I just don’t think it’s right to kill an innocent girl.”

Itachi’s muscles went rigid, and the giant braced himself for his wrath.

“Am I going mad, or did the word _think_ come out of your mouth?” His voice rose with every word. “You were _not_ hired for your brains, you gargantuan landmass!”

The woman finished untying the boat and hopped aboard. “I agree with Hyogo.”

“Oh, so the majority has spoken!” Itachi ranted, whirling on her. “What happens to Dororo is neither of your guys’ concern! _I_ will kill her!”

He cornered the woman and shoved his finger in her face. “And remember _this_ , Okowa, when I found you, you were so slobbering drunk, you couldn’t buy **_sake_**!”

He turned his rage back to Hyogo. “And _you_! Do you want me to send you back to where you were? Rotting in a jail cell?”

Convinced that his underlings had been put in their place, he stormed to the bow of the boat.

Okowa and Hyogo glanced at each other as the boat drifted away from the dock. Neither of them knew how they ended up working for a bully like Itachi. Wanting to cheer up her friend, she nudged him with her elbow and grinned.

“That Itachi sure can _fuss_.”

Hyogo instantly brightened; he liked coming up with rhymes.

“I think he likes to scream at _us_.”

“He probably means no _harm_ ,” Okowa responded.

“He’s certainly very short on _charm_.”

“Enough of that!” Itachi said irritably.

Okowa ignored him. “Hyogo, are there rocks _ahead_?”

“If there are, we’ll all be _dead_!”

Itachi barked, “No more rhymes! I mean it!”

“Anybody want a _peanut_?”

Itachi yelled in frustration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’m kinda on the fence as to how the relationship between Okowa and Hyogo is gonna go. For now, I’m just keeping it platonic until I get further in the story, then we’ll see what happens.


	4. Chapter 4

Dororo had regained consciousness to hear most of their conversation, but she pretended to be asleep until she got bored. By then night had fallen.

“We’ll reach the cliffs by dawn.” Itachi said.

Okowa looked over her shoulder behind the boat.

“Why are you doing that?” Itachi asked.

“Do you think anyone might be following us?”

“That would be inconceivable,” Itachi replied smugly.

“Oh, you’ll be caught, all right,” Dororo snapped. “And the Daigo clan will have you executed.”

“Of all the necks on this boat, _my_ _Lady_ ,” Itachi used her title mockingly, “the one you should be worrying about is your own.”

Dororo looked away as Itachi studied her. Why did her father, Hibukuro, try to raise her as a boy? He was frustrated that he didn’t figure it out years ago. Even as a child, Dororo had resembled her mother, the woman who had chosen Hibukuro over Itachi because she had clearly favored brute strength over brain power.

_And look what happened to that stupid tramp._

Okowa looked over her shoulder again, making Itachi even more irked.

“Would you please stop doing that? Just relax!”

Okowa turned back to him. “You’re sure nobody’s following us?”

“Like I said, it would be totally inconceivable. The Asakura don’t know what we’ve done, and Daigo couldn’t have gotten here so fast.” He closed his eyes and leaned back, trying to sleep.

Three seconds later he looked back to Okowa.

“Out of curiosity, why do you ask?”

“I just looked back and suddenly I saw something there.”

“What?”

Itachi and Hyogo rushed to the stern of the boat. Sure enough, there was another boat not very far behind them.

Itachi scoffed. “You’re worried about _that_? It’s just some local fisherman out for a nightly pleasure cruise through sha-“

A splash made the trio spin to see that Dororo had jumped out of the boat and was swimming away.

“Someone jump in and get her!” Itachi shouted.

“I can’t swim,” Okowa replied.

“Don’t look at me,” Hyogo said.

Itachi growled. “Fine! Veer left!”

Dororo focused on swimming for her life. If she could get to that other boat, maybe she could persuade whoever was on it to help her.

Her thoughts were cut short when she heard strange noises coming from all directions that sent a chill down her spine.

“Do you know what that sound is, Dororo?” Itachi’s voice sounded from behind her. “Those are the Wailing Sharks!”

_You’re lying_ , Dororo thought, but then she heard the swish of giant tails.

“If you don’t believe me, just wait! They always grow louder when they’re about to feed on human flesh!”

At the exact second he said that, a particularly loud wail made Dororo turn, shrieking when a large dorsal fin brushed against her elbow.

“If you swim back now, I give you my word that your death will be quick and painless! I doubt you’ll get such an offer from the sharks!”

Dororo didn’t even hear him over the pounding in her ribcage. She was paralyzed with fear as she watched the dorsal fin that had grazed her swim away then loop around to charge at her. It was almost touching her when it opened its jaws wide and-

*****

”Dororo doesn’t get eaten by the sharks.”

Saru blinked. “What?”

“The shark doesn’t get her. I’m just saying because you looked nervous.”

“I wasn’t nervous,” Saru said, frowning.

Big Sis looked down at his hands, and Saru realized that he was wringing his blanket like a wet washcloth. Blushing, he let go of the blanket and folded his arms.

“I was _concerned_ , which is completely different.”

Now Big Sis was concerned. “If you want, we can stop now.”

Saru shook his head. “No, you can read more, if you want.”

Big Sis was still concerned, but she continued,

“It was almost touching her when it opened its jaws wide and-“

*****

-just when Dororo thought her life was over, the giant Hyogo punched the shark in the nose while his other hand lifted her up into the boat. She had been so fixated on the shark that she didn’t noticed how close Itachi’s boat had come to her.

Okowa glanced back at the other boat while Itachi stooped to tie Dororo’s wrists.

“I think he’s getting closer.”

“He’s no concern of ours! Just stay on course!” Itachi snapped. Because of Dororo’s little stunt, they wasted precious minutes and they had to hurry if they were going to fulfill his plan.

“Honestly, kid, when are you gonna start using your head?”

Dororo sneered at him, her patience having worn out. “Do you seriously think you’re going to get away with all this? I’ll start using my head when _you_ start using _yours_!”

Itachi sneered back. “In case you forgot, we currently hold your life in our hands, so you shouldn’t be sassing me.”

Dororo snorted. “It’s hard to forget when you’re tying my hands and openly plotting my murder!”

“You think you’re very brave, don’t you?” Itachi asked, voice laced with steel.

“Only compared to someone on this boat!”

Itachi grit his teeth at the insult. No one called him a coward! _No one!_ When he finished tying her hands, he backhanded her across the face. Hyogo and Okowa flinched.

“One more word out of you, and you’ll wish the sharks got to you first!”

Dororo’s head spun; she had never been hit before, not even by her own parents or Jukai. She blinked back tears, hoping this was just another nightmare and she would wake up in Jukai’s house nestled in Hyakkimaru’s arms.

Itachi stood and looked behind them to see that the other boat _was_ getting closer, but he ignored it. It was just a coincidence, nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon: both Hibukuro and Itachi wanted to marry Ojiya, but Ojiya chose Hibukuro, and Itachi never forgave her for that.
> 
> This scene in the book had sharks instead of eels, plus there’s Jiromaru and Saburomaru in “Dororo,” but I thought that “Shrieking Sharks” sounded too poetic to be scary, so I came up with Wailing Sharks.
> 
> I usually try to avoid shark attack movies because I was emotionally scarred as a kid (why is “Jaws” only rated PG?!) so I did my best with this scene.
> 
> I could be wrong, but when Buttercup said she thought she was brave “only compared to some,” it sounded to me like she was calling Vizzini a coward.
> 
> I’m going to be really, really busy in the coming days, so I have no idea when I’ll have the next chapter out. I’ll try to have it done ASAP, and I plan to tweak the chapters already posted, so please be patient with me. Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone; I hope you’re all still there. Now that I’ve made it through the holidays, I can squeeze some writing time into my schedule. 
> 
> Oy, this chapter was the most challenging one so far, but I. Finally. Got. This. Chapter. Done.
> 
> *slumps in chair*
> 
> Enjoy!

Dawn came sooner than Dororo expected. She groggily rubbed her eyes, having tossed and turned pretty much all night.

“Look! He’s right on top of us!” Okowa shouted.

Dororo looked over the side of the boat; the other boat from the night before was now close enough that she could make out a single person steering it.

“Whoever he is,” Itachi answered gleefully, “he’s too late! See? The Cliffs of Insanity!”

The infamous cliffs Itachi mentioned seemed to rise out of the fading morning mist. The Cliffs of Insanity near the border of the Asakura’s territory were so high and steep that very few attempted to climb them, and even fewer lived to tell the tale.

Itachi started frantically screaming orders at Hyogo and Okowa, and Dororo glanced back to the other boat, which was marginally closer. It could’ve been her imagination, but the person looked as if he was covered head to toe in black.

“We’re safe!” Itachi proclaimed as the boat pulled up to a ledge of rock that just barely broke the water’s surface.

“Only Hyogo is strong enough to go up this way.”

Dororo’s gaze snagged on a rope; one of her kidnappers must’ve tied it beforehand. Her eyes followed it upwards until she had to crane her neck. She immediately felt dizzy at the sheer height of the cliff, and she wasn’t normally afraid of heights. Instead she watched as Okowa latched her arms around Hyogo’s waist. Itachi roughly guided Dororo to the giant and looped her tied hands around his neck. She cast one more glance up at the cliff, then shut her eyes, determined to not open them until they were either at the top or dead.

Itachi hopped onto Hyogo’s shoulders, and that was his cue to start climbing. After about five minutes, Okowa looked down and nearly choked.

“He’s climbing the rope, and he’s gaining on us.”

Itachi followed her gaze to see that the other boat had docked, and a man dressed entirely in black was climbing up their rope as easily as a monkey.

“Inconceivable! Hyogo, go faster!”

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Hyogo grunted.

Itachi’s face reddened. “You’re supposed to have unmatched strength, and yet he gains!”

“Well, I’m carrying three people, and he’s only got himself.”

“Don’t give me excuses!”

Dororo couldn’t resist anymore; she cracked open one eye to get a glimpse of the man following them. She regretted it as the bottom of the cliffs swayed far beneath them. She tightly shut her eyes again. _Oh, that was such a bad idea!_

More minutes passed, with the man in black gaining and Itachi shouting threats at Hyogo, until they finally reached the top. As Okowa guided a still-rattled Dororo away from the cliffs’ edge and helped up Hyogo, Itachi ran to the boulder the rope was tied to and began sawing at it with his knife like a madman.

The heavy rope frayed, then snapped altogether and whipped over the edge of the cliff. Okowa and Hyogo looked over.

“He has very good arms,” Hyogo said.

Itachi rushed up next to them. The man in black was clinging to the side of the cliff.

“He didn’t fall?! Inconceivable!”

“You keep using that word,” Okowa commented, turning to Itachi. “I don’t think it means what you think it means.”

Itachi fumed as the man in black began to climb the cliffs’ rocks.

“Whoever he is, he’s obviously seen us with Lady Dororo and must die.”

He motioned to Hyogo. “You, I need your strength to carry the girl.”

Hyogo nodded.

Itachi turned to Okowa. “We’re heading for Asakura’s territory, so catch up when he’s dead. If he falls, fine. If not, the sword.”

“I’ll duel him left-handed,” Okowa said as Itachi walked away.

He spun on her. “You know what a hurry we’re in!”

Okowa shrugged. “I can’t be satisfied if I use my right; it’ll be over too quickly.”

Itachi threw his hands in the air. “Oh, have it your way!”

Hyogo came over to the cliffs’ edge with Dororo over his shoulder, much to her chagrin. He patted Okowa on the shoulder.

“You be careful, okay?”

Okowa smiled up at him and nodded.

At the angle Hyogo was holding Dororo, she could clearly see over the cliff. Her first thought was to throw up at how high they had climbed. Then the man in black looked up and locked eyes with her, and she completely forgot about everything else. He was too far below for her to tell what color his eyes were, and he was wearing a black hood and a black mask covering most of his face. But for some reason, Dororo felt both drawn to the man and terrified of him at the same time.

“I’m waiting!”

Itachi’s impatient voice broke whatever spell the man in black had over Dororo. Hyogo carried Dororo as he followed Itachi away from the cliffs and over a ridge toward Asakura.

As they disappeared over the ridge, Okowa surveyed her surroundings. She guessed this had been a castle or a fort once upon a time, judging from the ruined walls and large piles of stone and rubble. She couldn’t have asked for a better place to test her skills.

A part of her hoped the man survived the climb; it had been ages since she had a _real_ challenge.

_Sheesh, what’s taking him so long?_

She approached the edge of the cliff; the man in black had made little progress, if any.

“Hello there!” Okowa called.

The man looked up. Okowa waved.

“Slow going?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but this isn’t as easy as it looks, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t distract me!” The man called up.

Okowa held up her hand. “Sorry!”

“Thank you!”

Okowa stepped away from the cliff and unsheathed her sword. She did a few practice swings and then sheathed it again. Ten seconds passed before she went back to the cliff’s edge.

“I don’t suppose you could climb any faster?”

The man sighed in frustration. “If you’re in such a hurry, you could lower something to help me get up there!”

“I have some leftover rope up here,” Okowa replied, “but since I’m only waiting around to kill you, I don’t think you’d accept my help!”

The man gave a nod. “Then I’m afraid you’ll just have to wait.”

Okowa paced away from the cliff, hands on her hips. “I hate waiting,” she muttered to herself.

She brightened and ran back to the cliff.

“What would you say if I promised not to kill you until you reach the top?”

“No good,” the man grunted, climbing another centimeter.

“Don’t you trust me? I’m going crazy up here!”

“How can I trust you when I don’t even know you?”

Okowa straightened her spine, her tone growing somber. “I swear on the soul of my father, Munetsuma, you will reach the top alive.”

The man had known enough people in his life to tell when they were being sincere or deceitful.

“Throw me the rope.”

Okowa wasted no time in uncoiling the rope and throwing it to the man. As he grabbed on, she gleefully noted that he had two katanas strapped to his waist. In a moment, he was beside her.

“Thank you,” he sighed tiredly as he reached for one of his katanas.

“Oh, no, we’ll wait until you’re ready,” Okowa said.

The man nodded. “Again, thank you.”

He sat down on a rock to catch his breath.

“Why are you following us?” Okowa asked. “Are you after Lady Dororo?”

Even with the mask, Okowa noticed his features soften for a fraction of a second at the mention of the Lady. _Ah, I see._

The man cleared his throat. “She is valuable,” he responded, his voice monotone.

Okowa almost guffawed at his thinly veiled double meaning, but she decided not to pry. A thought occurred to her.

“I hate to get personal, but do you happen to have tiger claw marks on your chest?”

The man looked at her incredulously; did she always start conversations this way?

“Why?”

“My father was killed by a man with those particular scars,” she explained.

The man opened his black shirt, revealing a well-muscled and flawless torso. Okowa didn’t bother to hide her admiration as he covered up again.

“My father was a brilliant sword maker,” she said wistfully. “When the scarred man came to our house and requested a special sword, my father took the job.”

Okowa took out the sword to show the man. “He slaved on it for an entire year.”

The man took the sword and examined it. It was a katana, sharp enough to cut through wood like butter, with an intricately designed hilt coated in gold leaf.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he confessed as he handed it back.

Okowa beamed with pride as she lovingly cradled the katana in her hands.

“The scarred man returned and demanded it, but only for a tiny fraction of the price he had promised. My father refused. The scarred man flew into a rage and hacked him to pieces.”

Her face was sad as she returned the katana to its sheath.

“I loved my father, so I challenged the murderer to a duel. He won and let me live, but he gave me these,” she motioned to two small pale scars, one on each collarbone.

“I was only ten, and from that day forward, I dedicated my life to learning how to fight with a sword. When I see the scarred man again, I will go up to him and say, ‘Hello, my name is Okowa, daughter of Munetsuma. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’”

The man spoke up. “So what are you doing in a criminal gang?”

Okowa shrugged and sat down. “It’s been ten years, and I can’t find him. I just work for Itachi to make ends meet. There’s not a lot of money in revenge.”

“Well, I certainly hope you find him someday.” The man stood and pulled out one of his swords, leaving the other on a rock.

“You’re ready then?” Okowa asked as she hopped up and grasped her own katana with her left hand.

“Whether I am or not, you’ve been more than fair.”

“You seem a decent man,” Okowa sincerely said, “I hate to kill you.”

“You seem a decent woman,” the man returned, “I hate to die.”

Okowa smirked. “Begin.”

She noticed the man was also using his left hand, so that made things fairer. Her weakness against another’s strength.

They stood still for a moment. Okowa struck first, the man easily blocking her attacks. They walked around each other in a half circle. The man was first this time, but Okowa blocked him just as easily. They paused, then Okowa lunged and the real fight began.

Okowa quickly discovered that this man was _very_ good. He expertly deflected her swings and jabs even as she advanced on him. As they fought their way around the ruined castle, Okowa started grinning like a loon. Most men she dueled didn’t last as long as the man in black, and it was beyond refreshing. Suddenly, _he_ started advancing on _her_ and he backed her toward the cliff.

“You’re wonderful!” Okowa breathed.

“Thank you,” the man replied, “I’ve worked hard to become so.”

“I just admitted you’re better than I am!” Okowa laughed.

“Then why are you smiling?”

“I am not left-handed!”

Okowa quickly switched her sword to her right hand, elated when she started showing signs of superiority. Again, she was advancing on him and she drove him up some old stone steps and pressed him back against a low wall. Rocks fell as the man used his katana to keep his opponent’s away from his neck.

“There’s something I ought to tell you,” the man grunted, “I’m not left-handed either.”

_What?_ Okowa backed away to see if the man was bluffing.

The man tossed his katana into the air and caught it with his right hand. In one swift movement, he twisted Okowa’s sword from her hand and sent it flying from the tower. When he didn’t strike at her right away, she jumped and grabbed onto a conveniently located wooden bar to swing to the main level of the castle. She knew she was being a show off when she let go and landed on her feet, but she couldn’t help it. She snatched up her sword and spun to wait for the man.

The man casually threw his sword so it spun and stuck in the ground. He jumped and caught the same bar, but instead of dismounting right away, he swung around it once and backflipped as he let go and landed right next to his katana. Okowa stared at him in slack-jawed awe.

”Are you single?” she asked. She already knew the answer, but maybe she was wrong.

“Get used to disappointment.”

Okowa shrugged. _Well, can’t_ _blame a girl for trying._

Now that they were fighting equally, it was clear that the man in black was just slightly superior to Okowa. Not by much, but it was enough. In her last burst of energy, she used every trick and technique she knew and practiced relentlessly for the past decade, but nothing worked.

The man in black lunged forward and used his sword to toss Okowa’s to the other end of the ruins. As much as she hated to admit it, she had been beaten for the first time since she was a child.

“Kill me quickly,” Okowa groaned, sinking to her knees.

“I don’t kill women, no matter how skilled they are at fighting. However, I can’t have you following me either. Please understand I hold you in the highest respect.”

He used the hilt of his sword to club the back of her head, and Okowa fell unconscious.

The man in black rushed to collect his other katana, pick up Itachi’s trail, and race to catch up to them before it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it’s official: I am not a big fan of writing fight scenes. Writing this was stressful, and I probably butchered it. I’ll probably go back and fix it eventually, but for now, I just want to be done with it and move forward with the story.
> 
> Also, I’m toying with the idea of making a separate work with “deleted scenes” from this fic that will feature the mushy parts that Saru wanted Big Sis to skip over. Thoughts?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been kinda sick over the past few days and haven’t been able to write. I’m feeling better, but still not a hundred percent, so this will be a short chapter. I hope you enjoy anyway!

Dororo was so sick of being slung over Hyogo’s shoulder. They were hurrying along a narrow, rocky path, and her ribs were starting to ache from being jostled so much. She was about to ask if she could _please_ walk the rest of the way, then the words died in her throat.

Cresting a hill in the distance was the man in black.

This meant he had killed Okowa - which was a bit sad, since Okowa had been nice enough to her. But Dororo had no idea what this man intended to do to her. Was he trying to rescue her? Or kidnap her? Or worse?

Her train of thought was interrupted when Hyogo twisted to look behind them.

“Itachi, he’s beaten Okowa!” The weight of grief on his shoulders grew heavier; he liked Okowa, and now she was dead, just like Mutsu.

“Inconceivable!”

Dororo rolled her eyes; if Itachi said that word one more time, she was going to punch him in the mouth.

“Hyogo, give me the girl,” Itachi ordered.

Hyogo set Dororo on her feet, her legs buckling for a moment from lack of use. Itachi grabbed the rope around her wrists and yanked her after him.

“Finish him, your way!” he called back to Hyogo.

“What do you mean ‘my way?’”

Itachi stopped in his tracks, on the brink of losing his temper. It was so hard to find good help these days. He circled to face Hyogo.

“Get one of those rocks and get behind that boulder. As soon as his head is in view, _use_ _the_ _rock_ _to_ _crush_ _it_ _like_ _a_ _bloody_ _eggshell_!” He shrieked the last part.

“Stop talking to him like that, you big bully!” Dororo hissed. She was completely fed up with Itachi’s cruelty, even if it was aimed at his own employees. She had witnessed more than enough bullying as a child.

Itachi raised his arm to backhand Dororo again, restraining himself when she flinched. He grasped her chin to force her to look up at him.

“That was a warning, Dororo,” he threatened lowly. “Next time you get on my last nerve I swear I’ll mess up your pretty little face.”

He let go of her chin with a shove. She stuck her tongue out at his back. As he pulled her along, she glanced back at Hyogo, who mouthed _thank you_.

_You’re welcome_ , she mouthed back before she lost sight of him around the bend.

Hyogo sighed, not liking Itachi’s treatment of Lady Dororo or the way he wanted the man in black killed. Itachi might’ve been a coward, but that didn’t mean Hyogo had to be.

He picked up a rock the size of a cannon ball and hid behind the boulder to wait.

The man in black slowed as he came to a place with scattered rocks and boulders. For as long as he could remember, he could sense when he was being watched. Now was one of those times. Slowly, he drew out his katanas.

He had hardly taken another step when a large rock sailed in front of his face and crashed into a boulder in front of him. He whirled to see the giant emerging.

“I missed your head on purpose,” he said conversationally, scooping up another rock.

“I believe you,” the man replied. “Now what?”

“We face each other sportsmanlike. No weapons, just skill.”

“So, I’ll put down my swords and you’ll put down your rock, and we’ll try to kill each other like civilized people?”

Hyogo raised the rock to throw it. “I can kill you now.”

The man crouched to set his swords on the ground, keeping an eye on the giant. He had faced larger adversaries than this many times, so he felt confident he could win.

Hyogo grinned as he tossed aside his rock. The man approached him, seemingly unafraid; Hyogo respected that. As the giant made a grab at him, the man ducked between his legs and came up behind him.

“You’re fast,” Hyogo observed aloud. The man nodded in response.

As Hyogo advanced on him, he was struck by curiosity.

“Why do you wear a mask and hood? Are you scarred or disfigured or something like that?”

“No, this is more comfortable than the last mask I wore.”

That didn’t really answer Hyogo’s question. He swung his fists at the man, but he managed to evade him. He grasped him and began to crush him like a python, only for the man to slip out of his hold.

Hyogo blinked; he hadn’t been expecting _that_. As he tried to grab him again, the man dodged him by sprinting up onto a stone ledge. He then jumped on Hyogo’s back and locked his arms around his neck.

Hyogo choked and gagged, white sparks dancing in his sight. “I can see...how you were able to kill Okowa.”

“I didn’t-“ he grunted as the giant slammed him against the nearest boulder. “I didn’t kill her.”

Hyogo coughed in surprise as the man’s grip on his windpipe tightened.

“You...didn’t?”

“No, I just-“

_Slam_.

“-left her unconscious, but-“

_Slam_.

“-she’ll be fine.”

Hyogo let out a strangled sigh in relief. “Thank you...for sparing her.”

He slumped to his hands and knees, his vision swimming and going black. He struggled to get the next words out.

“Just...don’t harm...the Lady...she is...kind...”

The man let go just as the giant fell. Again, he didn’t kill him, but he wouldn’t wake up for a while.

“She’s too precious to be harmed,” the man in black said quietly.

After retrieving his swords, he followed Itachi’s trail again.

_Two down, one to go..._

Tahomaru knelt to examine the footprints in the dirt. Behind him on horses were his bodyguard, his father, his father’s confidant, and a handful of samurai.

“There was a duel here,” he explained. He stood and followed the prints around the ruins.

“It ranged all over. Both of them were expert swordsmen.”

He frowned as he studied the last of the prints. “Afterward, one ran off alone, and the other followed those footprints.”

Daigo Kagemitsu beamed with pride; his son truly was the greatest hunter in Japan.

“Shall we track them both, Young Master?” asked Mutsu, Tahomaru’s bodyguard.

Tahomaru was about to answer when his father cut him off.

“No, only Lady Dororo matters at this point.”

Saburota, Daigo’s confidant, drew himself up and addressed the samurai, “Those footprints lead to Asakura! Clearly, Lady Dororo’s abduction was planned by them; we must hurry if we are to rescue her!”

Tahomaru exchanged a look with Mutsu as he mounted his horse.

“Could this be a trap, father?” he asked.

“It’s possible,” Daigo answered as they rode off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plot twist/spoiler alert: Mutsu is alive, but Hyogo doesn’t know that. She will have a small yet important role to play in this story...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m feeling a whole lot better! However, I should probably say now that due to personal reasons, chapter length is going to vary from here on out. I hope that doesn’t scare anyone away.

Itachi pulled Dororo to a rough stop in a field. He was unable to get the man in black out of his mind. Unless he was wrong - and he never was - then the man in black had beaten Hyogo and was catching up to them. After weighing his options, he decided the best way to come out of this alive would be to use his head.

He forced Dororo to sit down next to a low tree stump. Reaching into his knapsack, he pulled out two cups, a bottle of **_sake_** and some manju buns and set them on the stump.

“Is this going to be my last meal?” Dororo sassed.

“Shut up.”

Itachi twisted a piece of cloth and used it as a blindfold over Dororo’s eyes.

“What are you _doing_?”

“I said shut up!”

Sitting down next to her, he got out his knife and pressed the point of it to the side of her neck. _The man in black will be here any minute now._

As predicted, the man in black ran into view, skidding to a stop when he saw Itachi holding a blade to Lady Dororo’s neck.

“So, it’s down to the two of us,” Itachi said casually.

The man in black said nothing, but Dororo heard him slowly coming closer.

“If you want her dead, then keep coming forward.”

The man paused, then took another step.

“I can explain.”

It was the first time Dororo heard the man’s voice; it was warm and masculine, and it sent a shiver down her spine for reasons unknown to her.

“There’s no need to explain; I already know you’re trying to kidnap what I’ve rightfully stolen.”

The man noticed the Lady frown disgustedly at his choice of words. He took two more steps.

“Perhaps we can make an arrangement?”

Itachi grabbed Dororo’s arm. “Absolutely not, and in case you didn’t hear me before, you’re killing her!”

With that, he pressed the knife’s point harder against her neck, causing her to inhale sharply.

The man froze.

“Then we’re at an impasse.” The man crossed his arms.

“Yeah, I can’t compete with you physically, and you’re no match for my brains.”

Dororo scoffed. _Really, Itachi?_

“You’re that smart?”

“Let me put it to you this way,” Itachi said, “does the name Confucius ring a bell?”

The man thought for a moment. “He was a Chinese philosopher, wasn’t he?”

“He was an idiot.”

“Oh, please!” Dororo sneered. “What do _you_ know about Chinese philosophy?”

“Shut up!” Itachi ground out. He had meant what he said before, and he had no qualms about bruising the obnoxious brat’s face with his fists. But there was something about the man in black that warned Itachi he would make him regret the day he was born if he beat her up.

The man considered the situation. Of course, he would kill Itachi if he murdered Lady Dororo. But he needed the Lady alive, and getting even with the criminal wouldn’t bring her back to life.

“Very well,” he said at last, “I challenge you to a battle of wits.”

Itachi brightened. “For the Lady?”

The man gave a nod.

Itachi’s smile grew wider. “To the death?”

The man nodded again.

“I accept!” Itachi said happily as he set down his knife.

Although Dororo was relieved that she was being kept alive at least a little bit longer, she was irked at the man in black’s challenge. _Do I look like a trophy to you?!_

“Good, then pour the **_sake_**.”

Itachi obeyed as the man approached and sat down. Once the cups were full, the man fumbled with the folds of his belt until he produced a tiny wooden tube.

“This is Malay Poison,” he explained, “it’s odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and extremely deadly if consumed.”

Itachi chuckled wickedly when the man took the two cups and hid them from his sight. He liked challenges that required him to think, and being around Okowa and Hyogo provided a depressing lack of those.

The man set the two cups back on the tree stump, one in front of Itachi and one in front of him, and tossed the now empty tube between them.

“Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and we see who’s right and who’s dead.”

“It’s so simple,” Itachi smirked, “all I have to do is deduce from what I know about you to figure out where the poison is.”

He paused as he studied the two cups. “A clever man would’ve put the poison into his own drink, because only an idiot would reach for the cup he was given. I’m not an idiot, so I can’t choose your **_sake_**. Only you must’ve known that I’m not an idiot, so I can’t choose mine either.”

“Have you decided, then?”

“No. Everyone knows that Malay Poison originates from Singapore, and Singapore is teeming with pirates.”

Dororo had been listening the whole time, obviously, but her ears perked up at the word ‘pirates.’ If this man had a poison from somewhere with pirates, odds were he was probably a pirate himself.

And if this pirate was who she thought he was, she had a score to settle with him. She hoped he won just so she could have the pleasure of bashing his head open with a rock.

Itachi continued, “And pirates are used to having people not trust them, so I can clearly not choose the cup in front of you.”

“You have a dizzying intellect,” the man said.

“Wait ‘till I get going. Where was I?”

“Singapore,” Dororo remarked.

“Yeah. Singapore. You might’ve suspected that I would’ve known the poison’s origins, so I can clearly not choose the cup in front of me.”

“Now you’re stalling,” the man accused.

“You wish!” Itachi shouted. “You’ve beaten my giant, which means you’re strong, and could’ve put the poison in your own cup, relying on your strength to save you! But you also bested my swordswoman, which means you studied, and by studying you must’ve learned that humans are mortal, so you could’ve put the poison as far away from you as possible!”

“No one needs to study to know that humans are mortal!” Dororo snapped impatiently. “Will you just make up your mind already? All your rambling is giving me a headache!”

“Stay out of this!” Itachi snapped back, not taking his eyes off of the man.

The man was completely calm as he responded, “You’re trying to trick me into giving away the answer. It won’t work.”

Itachi rolled his eyes. “You’ve given everything away, stupid! I know where the poison is!”

“Then make your choice.”

“I will, and I-“ he suddenly grew frightened as he pointed behind the man. “What the heck is _that_?”

The man turned to look. “I don’t see anything.”

“I guess it was a shadow or something.” Itachi shrugged, struggling to contain his laughter.

The man narrowed his eyes; it was the first sign of emotion he showed since this began.

“What’s so funny?”

“I’ll tell you after we drink,” Itachi replied, reaching for the cup in front of him.

He waited until the man had his own cup, then they both drank. The man grinned as he set his cup back down.

“You guessed wrong.”

Itachi laughed outright. “I switched cups while your back was turned, so _you_ guessed wrong, you fool!”

Itachi continued to laugh uproariously until the poison took effect, then he slumped over.

The man in black knelt beside Dororo and gently removed her blindfold.

“Seriously? Your cup was the one that was poisoned?”

“They were both poisoned,” the man said as he cut the rope from Dororo’s wrists and helped her to her feet. “I’ve spent years building up an immunity to Malay Poison.”

_Good_ _for_ _you_ , Dororo thought sarcastically, though she didn’t dare to say it out loud. As he took her wrist and raced away from Itachi’s corpse, she felt certain of his identity. How long would he let her live? And would she be able to kill him first?

*****

Big Sis closed the book and stood up.

“Don’t tell me you’re stopping _now_!” Saru exclaimed.

Big Sis smiled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying the story, but it’s lunchtime.”

Saru’s stomach growled as if to confirm it.

“Oh,” he said quietly.

“What would you like to eat?”

Saru shrugged. “Anything is fine.”

Big Sis nodded as she headed for the kitchen.

Saru slumped back against the headboard of his bed. Not that he’d ever admit it, but the story had him sitting on pins and needles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How’s that for a cliffhanger, Saru?
> 
> Malay Poison is something I invented off the top of my head for the sake of the story. Don’t ask me what’s in it, because I have no idea. I got the name from one of the official languages of Singapore.
> 
> Dororo’s commentary during this scene was what was going through my head during this part in the movie.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suuuper short chapter. I wanted to reveal more of how Mutsu fits into the story, so I did that, plus a couple of other things that just popped up out of nowhere. Does anyone else get that, or is it just me?

Half an hour later, Big Sis came back into Saru’s room carrying a tray with two bowls of _**katsudon**_ and some of the made-from-scratch _**mochi**_ ice cream she was famous for.

As Saru tucked into his food, Big Sis retrieved the book from Saru’s desk.

“Now, where were we?” she asked as she picked at her own meal.

Saru accidentally swallowed a bite of pork without chewing in his rush to answer her.

“The man in black just won the battle of wits against Itachi and Dororo is planning to kill him because she thinks he’s a pirate.” He paused. “ _Is_ he a pirate?”

“Let’s find out,” Big Sis replied as she opened the book.

*****

Tahomaru stooped to study the outline of a body in the grass. Whoever had lain there was long gone, but that wasn’t the only thing.

“Someone has beaten a giant,” he said, partly to himself and partly to Mutsu. They had ridden ahead of Daigo, Saburota and the other samurai.

Mutsu frowned at the outline in the grass. There was something about the shape of it that reminded her of her deceased brother.

Tahomaru stood, noticing Mutsu’s expression.

“What is it?”

Mutsu jumped at Tahomaru’s concerned tone. She straightened her spine and cleared her throat.

“It is nothing, Young Master.”

Tahomaru opened his mouth to point out they were alone, so she could call him by his name, but he faltered. In the past, she had never hesitated to say his name or speak her mind or even tease him. Now, even when there was no one around, she never dared to be informal with him, and he knew his engagement to Dororo had everything to do with it. Mutsu had become as cold as ice, and it broke his heart.

With a sigh, he took a step towards her. “Mutsu, I-“

He was cut off by the sound of approaching horses. Annoyed at the interruption, he knelt and pretended to still be examining the giant’s outline just as his father and the samurai came into view.

Saburota smirked at Mutsu’s too straight posture and Tahomaru’s too focused expression. It made him wonder what exactly the Young Master had been doing with his mistress before they arrived. Their hair and clothes were neat, so nothing inappropriate. Pity: he liked imagining Mutsu doing something other than protecting her precious master...

Tahomaru faced his father and men, restraining himself from glaring daggers at Saburota for the way he was leering at Mutsu.

“Someone has beaten a giant,” he repeated his earlier words, “And whoever did followed the other two sets of footprints, some of which belong to Lady Dororo.”

Daigo smiled reassuringly at Tahomaru’s scowl and aggressive tone. “Be at peace, my son, there will be great suffering in Asakura if she dies.”

That wasn’t the reason for his anger, but he nodded anyway. With one last subtle glare aimed in Saburota’s direction, he and Mutsu remounted their horses. 

The man in black and Dororo had been running for what seemed like hours, going in the opposite direction of Daigo’s land, which eliminated the possibility of him rescuing her. The man suddenly stopped and guided Dororo to a large, flat slab of stone.

“Catch your breath,” he ordered, his voice monotone.

As Dororo took in deep lungfuls of air, she glanced around, looking for a rock to kill the man with. Unfortunately, the only ones in the area were either too big for even Hyogo to lift or too small to hurt a fly. Instead, she turned her attention to the man himself.

He was nothing like she expected: she couldn’t begin to guess what he looked like, due to the hood and mask. He was some inches taller than her, and dressed in loose black clothing that hinted he was lean yet muscular in all the right places.

She shook her head; it wasn’t like she was checking him out. _Of course she wasn’t!_ She was only looking for any signs of weak spots or vulnerability.

“I don’t think you’re going to kill me,” she said at last, “or you would’ve let Itachi do it.”

The man in black turned to her, saying nothing.

“But you’re really stupid for kidnapping me. Everyone knows that the Daigo clan never pays ransom; they capture and kill.”

“I don’t want ransom,” he replied in the same monotone voice.

“Then what _do_ you want?”

Again, he didn’t answer. Dororo scowled.

“It doesn’t matter where you take me, anyway. Tahomaru can track a falcon on a cloudy day, so he can find you.”

The man’s shoulders tensed. “You think your dearest love will save you?” he asked bitterly, making Dororo flinch.

“I never said he was my dearest love! And yes, I _know_ he’ll save me.”

The man seemed surprised. He slowly approached her.

“You admit to me you do not love your fiancé?”

Dororo huffed and turned away. “He knows I don’t love him.”

He moved to stand in front of her; Dororo noticed he had his head tilted to the side in a way that was familiar to her.

“If you don’t love him, then why are you marrying him?”

Dororo’s temper flared and she was very tempted to slap him across the face.

“That’s none of your business!”

After a long moment, the man took her hand again.

“We need to keep going.”

Daigo and his men came across a corpse in a field; they noted with relief that it wasn’t Lady Dororo, but a middle-aged man in bandit’s clothes.

Tahomaru dismounted and surveyed the scene. A small picnic was set up on a tree stump with some food, two cups, a **_sake_** bottle and an empty wooden tube. He picked up the tube and smelled the inside of it.

“Malay Poison. I’d bet my life on it.”

He had barely scanned the surrounding area before he found what he was looking for.

“And those are Lady Dororo’s footprints; she was alive an hour ago. We will have to ride fast to catch up with her and the man who’s taken her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, not entirely pleased with how this turned out, but one of the things I love about this site is it allows you to go back and fix things.
> 
> My two favorite OTP’s for “Dororo” are HyakkiDoro and TahoMutsu, and there are not enough fics for either of those ships.
> 
> To be honest, I kinda felt sorry for Saburota in the new anime, what with his mother and being severely traumatized and all. But for this fic, I made him a total scumbag.
> 
> There wasn’t a whole lot of Dororo in this chapter, but we’ll be seeing more of her in the next.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that’ve seen the movie, I think you know what happens next. So, without further ado, here’s This Part! *cue trumpet music*

It soon became clear that killing the man in black with a rock was out of the question; there weren’t really any rocks around that Dororo could do any damage with. She decided to wait for the right moment, then she would know what to do.

As they stopped to rest at the edge of a steep ravine, she couldn’t hold her tongue any longer.

“I know who you are.”

The man stilled. “Do you?”

“You’re the pirate Tanosuke the Slaughterer! I hope you die slowly, cut into a thousand pieces!”

_Ouch, that was harsh._

“Why do you say that?”

Dororo clenched her hands into fists to keep from strangling him. “You killed my love.”

“Another rich Daimyo’s son?”

There was that bitter tone again. If Dororo didn’t know better, she would’ve thought he sounded jealous.

“No, a poor boy named Hyakkimaru. You probably don’t remember him.”

The man didn’t respond for several minutes.

“Again, why are you marrying Daigo Tahomaru if you don’t love him?”

“Why do you keep bringing that up?” Dororo snapped.

When he didn’t answer, Dororo crossed her arms.

“If you _must_ know, I never really had a choice. Daigo Kagemitsu and his confidant, Saburota, showed up at our home and demanded that I marry his son. After I said no, they threatened to kill the man that raised me if I refused again. Too many people I loved died, and I didn’t want Jukai to go down that same road, so I agreed. Even so, Daigo won’t let me contact him, so he might as well be dead all the same!”

There was silence as the man processed this information.

“You said your love’s name was Hyakkimaru? I believe I do remember him, actually. This would be, what, four years ago?” He hesitated, noticing Dororo’s face had fallen. “Does it bother you to hear it?”

Dororo couldn’t bring herself to answer.

“He’d regained his voice before I took his ship. Unlike most, he didn’t try to bribe or beg for his life. He simply said, ‘Please, I need to live.’”

Dororo stared at her lap, trying to imagine what his voice sounded like.

“It was the ‘please’ that caught my memory. I asked him what was so important for him here. ‘Love,’ he replied. He went on to describe a girl with a beautiful soul, who was fierce and kind and would’ve followed him to the ends of the earth if he hadn’t insisted she stay home. Judging from your tears, I can only assume he meant you.”

Dororo swiped her hand across her face; she hadn’t even been aware that she was crying. Rage suddenly coursed through her body, and she spun and slapped the man as hard as she could.

“ _And you_ still _murdered him?!_ ” she screamed, the past four years of grief rising up to the surface. The man in black held up his hands and backed away from her as she pummeled his chest with her fists.

“ _You son of a...I_ hate _you! I_ died _that day because of_ you _!_ ”

They were both vaguely aware of hoof beats in the distance, but Dororo wasn’t finished.

“ _You can die too for all I care!_ ”

With that, she gave him a violent shove, so he fell down into the ravine. Before she could begin to hope he would break his neck, he called back up to her.

“ _As...you...wish!_ ”

Dororo’s heart jumped. No...it couldn’t be...

At some point, his mask and hood had fallen off, revealing a long black ponytail and a face she almost didn’t recognize since it was now covered in skin.

It _was_ him!

_Oh, no! What have I done?_

“ ** _ANIKI_**!” Dororo happily cried out as she tried to follow him. She immediately lost her footing and she was tumbling down as well. She didn’t care about the dizziness or injuries she was certain to have once she was at the bottom of the ravine, so long as Hyakkimaru was there with her.

Tahomaru cursed under his breath as Dororo and her abductor disappeared from his sight.

“There’s only one place that ravine leads to,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. “It seems the man is going to try to take Lady Dororo through the Fire Swamp.”

The samurai looked at each other in horror.

“Is he insane?” one of them asked.

“No,” Tahomaru muttered, “he must’ve seen us closing in and got desperate.”

_And desperate men are dangerous..._

Hyakkimaru groaned in pain, grateful he didn’t break any bones. Glancing next to him, he noticed Dororo was in a similar condition a few feet away. Panicked, he hurriedly crawled to her and scooped her into his arms.

”Can you move at all?”

Dororo laughed breathlessly, feeling like she was once again a teenager in love.

“Move? You’re alive! If you want I can fly.”

She felt like she really could fly, and the only thing holding her to the ground was Hyakkimaru’s soft, warm arms as they held her close.

“Are you whole? Did you get your body back?”

“Yes, I got it all back,” he responded, pulling away and smiling at her. “And I came for you.”

If she wasn’t so happy to be with him again, Dororo would’ve pretended to be angry and said something along the lines of, _Well, you took long enough!_ But she didn’t want to ruin this moment.

Hyakkimaru cradled her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. Not only was Hyakkimaru now devastatingly handsome with skin, but his eyes were a dazzling shade of amber, brimming with tears and gazing at her with such love that her heart threatened to pound right out of her chest.

“So this is what you look like?”

Dororo tried to hide her embarrassment; she had a hunch that even the most gorgeous woman in history would look awful after being kidnapped, swimming through saltwater, then tumbling down a ravine.

Hyakkimaru lowered himself to nuzzle his forehead against hers.

“Dororo, you’re beautiful.”

This wasn’t the empty flattery of someone judging by her appearance she had grown used to. It was what he really saw in her, inside and out.

Dororo laughed, tears of joy streaming across her face, as she wrapped a hand around the back of his neck to pull him closer to her.

His lips grazed hers delicately at first, then he gave in to his hunger for her. Dororo’s eyes fluttered closed and her lips parted, eager to make up for lost time. Hyakkimaru kissed her more deeply, tightening their embrace-

*****

”Oh come on!” Saru whined. “They’re kissing _again_! Do you _have_ to read the kissing parts?”

“One day you might not mind so much.”

Saru ignored her as he popped an entire **_mochi_** into his mouth.

“Thkip on oo da fiya thwamp, tha thounded good.”

“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” Big Sis gently admonished, turning the page. She hadn’t planned on reading this kissing part anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Saru, you ole killjoy! Well, keep your eyes open for the extended edition of the reunion of Dororo and Hyakkimaru in my deleted scenes fic.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there’s one thing I hate more than anything else in existence, it’s writer’s block, which is what I had for this chapter. I had to cut this chapter in half, for goodness sake! But I got Part 1 of this scene done, which is SO nice! Take that, writer’s block!

Hyakkimaru and Dororo raced along the ravine floor. They looked up at the sound of horses and saw Daigo’s samurai riding along the edge of the ravine.

“They’re too late,” Hyakkimaru said, “only a few more steps and we’ll be safe in the Fire Swamp.”

Dororo did not take this as good news. “Are you kidding me? No one’s ever survived in there!”

“Then we’ll be the first ones.”

When they came to the edge of the Fire Swamp, Dororo froze. Like every child in Japan, she and Hyakkimaru had grown up hearing scary stories about the Asakura Fire Swamp. Some of the meaner parents in their village threatened to abandon misbehaving children in it.

“It’s the only way, Dororo.”

Hyakkimaru’s voice broke through her thoughts, but she still couldn’t bring herself to move.

“ _ **A**_ - _ **Aniki**_ ,” she stammered, “remember when we were kids and I had those nightmares of dying in the Fire Swamp?”

Hyakkimaru nodded. “You were eight at the time.” He moved to stand in front of her and held her face in his hands. “Dororo, I won’t let you die. I promise.”

If anyone else had promised her such a thing, she would’ve refused to listen to them. But this was Hyakkimaru, and Dororo trusted him with her life. Besides, he _did_ have lots of experience killing ghouls. If anyone could get them through the Fire Swamp, he could.

With a sigh, Dororo gave him a small smile. “I believe you.”

Lush, giant trees sagging with vines shadowed the damp ground, making the swamp seem much darker than it should’ve been for that time of day. And it was extremely humid; entering was like walking into a steam bath. Dororo shuddered as big mosquitoes buzzed everywhere, and some unseen creatures squealed and growled from deep in the swamp.

“It’s not that bad,” Hyakkimaru said.

Dororo looked at him like he was crazy.

“I’m not saying I’d like to raise our children here, but the trees _are_ pretty.”

Hyakkimaru blanched at his verbal slip; he hadn’t even asked her to marry him yet, and he was already talking about them having children? He mentally smacked himself in the head.

Dororo noticed Hyakkimaru’s mortification at his mentioning kids, so she pretended not to hear him. However, she desperately wanted to one day be his wife and the mother of his children.

A popping noise made them stop in their tracks. Suddenly, a column of flame the size of a young child burst from the ground in front of them, catching on Dororo’s long red vest and setting it on fire.

Dororo shrieked as Hyakkimaru tore the vest off of her and threw it to the ground, stomping on it to smother the flames.

He turned to Dororo. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Dororo replied, picking up the vest. The fabric was burnt almost a third of the way up from the hemline, but it was still wearable.

When another popping noise sounded beneath Dororo’s feet, Hyakkimaru grasped her hips and swung her away just as another flame spurt shot up from the ground.

“This place sure is going to keep us on our toes,” Dororo remarked.

Hyakkimaru nodded, leading her deeper into the Fire Swamp.

As Hyakkimaru unsheathed one of his katanas and began hacking away at the vines in their path, Dororo thought of something she hadn’t before.

“I don’t understand,” she said, “how can you be Tanosuke the Slaughterer? He’s been a pirate for over a dozen years, and you only left four years ago.”

Hyakkimaru lifted her to get her out of the way of another flame spurt.

“What I told you before about saying ‘please’ was true,” he responded. “It intrigued Tanosuke, along with my description of your soul and personality. He said, ‘Alright, Hyakkimaru. I never had a servant; you can try it today, but I’ll kill you tomorrow if you do a terrible job.’ He said that every day for three months before he got used to having me around.”

Dororo frowned, angry that Tanosuke threatened to murder her **_Aniki_** every single day.

After swinging Dororo away from another flame spurt, Hyakkimaru continued, “I learned what I could from the other pirates, and, naturally, I continued to kill the ghouls to get my body back. Eventually, Tanosuke and I became friends, up until a year ago.”

“What happened a year ago?”

Hyakkimaru scooped Dororo bridal style into his arms to carry her over a narrow, fallen tree that served as a bridge over a bog.

“Tanosuke grew so rich that he wanted to retire, so he told me a secret: he wasn’t Tanosuke the Slaughterer.”

Dororo’s eyes widened. “What?”

“His real name was Kaname. He said that the real Tanosuke the Slaughterer had been retired for a decade and living like an emperor with his sister in Mongolia. Then Kaname explained the name was the important thing for making people fear you. So, we hired an entire new crew and he stayed aboard for a while, calling me Tanosuke. Once the crew believed, Kaname left and I’ve been Tanosuke ever since.”

“Does Jukai know that you’ve been alive this whole time.”

“That was the first place I went to after I got the last part of my body last month; I thought I would find both of you there.”

His tone was sad. Dororo was struck with guilt.

“Oh... **_Aniki_** I...I’m so sorry! I should’ve been there for you, but I-“

Hyakkimaru set Dororo on her feet and held her close.

“Dororo, I’m not angry with you. Jukai told me he suspected that you were threatened into your engagement, and what you told me earlier confirmed it. I gave him directions to where I had my ship docked - where I knew he would be safe - before coming for you.”

He pulled away and stroked her cheek. “I overheard Itachi and his two hirelings planning your kidnapping, which is how I knew to follow them and rescue you.” He gave her a wry smile. “In a way, it was a good thing; it saved me the trouble of breaking into Daigo’s castle and convincing you to run away with me.”

Dororo giggled, reaching up to cover his hand with hers.

“You promised you would always come for me.”

“Yes.” He suddenly felt shy again, but he felt like this was the right time. “And, if you’ll still have me, I promised you something else the night before I left.”

Dororo felt like she could barely breathe as Hyakkimaru took both of her hands in his.

“Dororo, from the moment I met you, you have been the brightest light of my life. I don’t know how I lived without you as long as I did, and I never want to be apart from you again.”

He paused to lift one of her hands and sweetly kiss each of her fingertips.

“Dororo, I love you. I never stopped loving you. I’m hardly worthy to ask you this, but...Dororo, please...please be my wife.”

Dororo laughed as she pounced on him, weeping for joy. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun in a circle to keep them from toppling over.

“Like you have to ask,” Dororo exclaimed as her laughter subsided. “I never stopped loving you, either. I made a promise that night too, and I’m not backing down from it. Besides, Tahomaru will be pleased.”

Hyakkimaru’s smile melted into a frown, feeling jealousy rise up in his chest.

“Why?”

”Tahomaru has been kind to me, but he doesn’t want to marry me anymore than I want to marry him.”

Hyakkimaru was unable to hide his surprise. “Why not?”

“Same reason as me: he’s in love with someone else.”

“Really?” Hyakkimaru asked in relief.

“He never said as much, but I can see the way he and his bodyguard Mutsu look at each other when they think no one is watching them.”

Actually, it was obvious to everyone _except_ Daigo Kagemitsu. Dororo once overheard the servants gossiping about Tahomaru sneaking into Mutsu’s room at night, and vice versa. She seriously doubted such rumors were true; Tahomaru wasn’t the type of man to risk Mutsu’s life and honor - and his father’s wrath - for a few hours of passion.

_But never mind that_ , Dororo thought, _Tahomaru can marry Mutsu. I’m_ _marrying Hyakkimaru, and no one can stop us!_

“I was hoping you would propose soon,” Dororo said. She gave him a teasing grin as she held out her arms and twirled around. “Of course, this isn’t exactly the most _romantic_ location, but I’m not going to compla-“

Her words were lost in a gasp as she was swallowed up by lightning sand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about saving the proposal scene until a later chapter to build up suspense, buuuut that’s too clichéd.
> 
> I am really dissatisfied with how the new anime ended Kaname’s story; I wanted him to stick around and be a big brother figure to Hyakkimaru.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is finally done!
> 
> Seriously, this writer’s block was so bad that I almost started banging my head on my desk. But I got through it, and hopefully it won’t happen again (at least for this story).

Hyakkimaru’s heart stopped when Dororo disappeared from his sight.

_I don’t want to lose you again, Dororo._

He didn’t waste any time in cutting a long vine and tying one end around a tree. After making sure it would hold and tossing aside his swords, he dove into the lightning sand after her.

For several minutes, all that could be heard in the Fire Swamp were distant flame spurts and growling animals.

Hyakkimaru emerged from the sand, Dororo clinging to his shoulders, both of them gasping and coughing. They crawled over the edge of the sand pit to lean against a fallen tree; Hyakkimaru held Dororo in his arms as she alternated between coughing and sobbing.

As the hysteria wore off, Dororo laughed weakly. “This should be an exciting story to tell our grandchildren, assuming we make it out of here alive.”

Hyakkimaru pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. “We will.”

He waited until Dororo had fully recovered before helping her to her feet and guiding her away from the sand pit.

“There are three terrors of the Fire Swamp,” he continued. “The first is the flame spurt; there’s a popping noise before each one, so we can avoid that easily. Next is the lightning sand, which you were smart enough to find out what that looked like, so we can avoid that, too.”

“What about the R.O.U.S’s?” Dororo asked.

“Rodents Of Unusual Size? Even if they really exist, they shouldn’t be a problem.”

No sooner had he said that when an R.O.U.S jumped from a tree and tackled him to the ground, knocking his swords out of his hand. It was a lot stronger and heavier than he had expected. Using one arm to keep the rodent from biting his face, he reached for one of his katanas, cursing under his breath when he couldn’t find them.

Instead, he punched the rodent in the face. It retreated a little, but then sank its teeth into Hyakkimaru’s right leg before he could get at his swords. His cry of pain was what snapped Dororo out of her shock; picking up a rock, she threw with all her might at the rodent’s head. It stumbled for a moment, stunned, giving Dororo time to snatch up one of Hyakkimaru’s katanas.

The R.O.U.S snarled and turned to attack Dororo. She had barely lifted the katana before the creature had her pinned to the ground.

“ ** _ANIKI_**!” she screamed.

The rodent was roughly yanked off of her. Now enraged, it twisted its body to bite Hyakkimaru’s left shoulder. Hyakkimaru had barely yelled out at the feeling of sharp teeth tearing at his flesh when a popping noise sounded not far beside him. He rolled until the rodent was in the right spot, then it screeched in agony as it was engulfed in flames.

Hyakkimaru pushed away from it and snatched up his other sword, stabbing the R.O.U.S in its heart and killing it.

As soon as it was dead, Hyakkimaru pulled Dororo into his arms.

“Are you hurt?”

Dororo shook her head. “No, but you are. Let me help you with your wounds,” she ordered while removing what was left of her burnt vest. Ripping it into strips, she watched Hyakkimaru out of the corner of her eye as he removed half of his shirt.

“We don’t have any sanitary water to clean your leg and shoulder, so this will have to do for now.”

Dororo bit her lip as she wound some of the strips tightly around his leg; she blushed all the way to her ears in caring for his shoulder. Bandaging Hyakkimaru was something she had done often growing up, but even then her heart had pounded against her ribcage every time. And that was _before_ he had skin and knee-weakening muscles.

When Dororo finished tying off the bandages on his shoulder, Hyakkimaru took her hand in his and kissed it.

“Thank you, Dororo. That rodent would’ve bitten my leg off if you hadn’t thrown that rock at it.”

Dororo gave him a crooked smile; they had gone through a similar scenario several times throughout their childhood where Dororo would distract a ghoul long enough for Hyakkimaru to kill it.

“Yeah, but if I’d been faster, I could’ve killed it before you got chewed up.”

Hyakkimaru was about to protest that he was fine, but Dororo leaned down and pressed a lingering kiss to his injured shoulder, and he completely forgot what he was going to say.

“But I think you’ll live,” Dororo whispered teasingly. After a quick peck on the lips, she helped Hyakkimaru with his shirt. “Can you walk with your leg like that?”

Hyakkimaru nodded.

The cool evening air felt wonderful to both of them after hours of navigating through the hellish Fire Swamp; they paused at its border.

“We did it,” Dororo sighed.

“That wasn’t as bad as the stories made it out to be,” Hyakkimaru said.

Dororo scoffed. “How can you say that after an overgrown rat gnawed on your shoulder and leg?”

Hyakkimaru shrugged nonchalantly. “I’ve had worse pain.”

“Name one time,” Dororo challenged, hands on hips.

Without hesitating, Hyakkimaru answered, “When I got my spine back.”

_Oh_ _._ Yeah, that sounded painful.

Dororo chuckled and grasped his shirt to pull him down. Their lips had barely brushed against each other when they were interrupted by approaching horses.

Hyakkimaru pushed Dororo behind him and unsheathed both of his katanas as Daigo, Tahomaru and their samurai circled them.

Daigo Kagemitsu recognized the young man’s face immediately.

“Surrender!” Tahomaru ordered.

“I don’t want to,” Hyakkimaru replied simply.

“Don’t be a fool, boy,” Daigo spat. “Surrender, or die!”

Dororo heard rustling around them, and her head whipped around to see archers surrounding them, arrows pointing at Hyakkimaru. Only she knew that he was never the type to surrender.

Dororo had promised Hyakkimaru that she would marry him. She had sworn to herself that she would never be separated from him again. But she had no choice. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she stepped forward.

“Will you promise not to hurt him?”

Everyone looked at her incredulously.

“This man saved my life,” she continued. “If we surrender and I return with you, then promise me that no harm will come to him!”

There was silence for a long moment. Daigo whispered something to Saburota, and he responded with a nod.

Daigo straightened. “Very well. Saburota has agreed to take care of him.”

With that, he rode off, leaving Tahomaru, Mutsu, Saburota and half of the samurai.

Dororo sighed and turned to Hyakkimaru.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, “but you died once, and it almost destroyed me. I couldn’t bear it if you died again. Not when I can save you.”

Dororo’s eyes welled with tears at the heartbroken expression on Hyakkimaru’s face, but he nodded in understanding.

“Lady Dororo.”

She glanced up to see Tahomaru and Mutsu had ridden up beside them; they both looked sympathetic as Tahomaru offered his hand.

“Goodbye, _**Aniki**_ ,” she whispered.

Dororo took Tahomaru’s hand and he helped her up onto his horse. She let her tears fall as she was once again torn from the man she loved.

Hyakkimaru watched them until they were out of sight. He was unhappy at the way this had turned out, but this was only a minor setback. He would just have to think of another plan to get Dororo back.

Suddenly, he felt his arms being jerked behind him as the remaining samurai tied his wrists and led him to Saburota. He frowned when he saw unusual red scars beneath the man’s open kimono.

“What are you staring at?” Saburota demanded.

“You have tiger claw marks on your chest,” Hyakkimaru answered. “Someone was looking for you.”

Saburota was furious. Using the hilt of his sword, he clubbed Hyakkimaru’s head, and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanna say that it really bugged me that Buttercup just stood by and watched while Westley was being attacked by the R.O.U.S. She could’ve at least tried to get the sword and killed the big rat herself. Sheesh!
> 
> I’m sure it hurt whenever Hyakkimaru got a body part back, but I have a hunch that his spine was the most painful.
> 
> I hope I did a good job with this chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always much appreciated by this author. :)


End file.
